"the ballad of john and yoko" by the beatles by summerfield

"the ballad of john and yoko" by the beatles

"Made a lightning trip to Vienna
Eating chocolate cakes in a bag
The newspapers said
"She's gone to his head
"They look just like two gurus in drag"
Christ, you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're gonna crucify me."
(Lennon, from the album "Past Masters Volume 2", 1969)

The song chronicles the events surrounding Lennon’s marriage to Yoko Ono and was the Beatles’ 17th and final UK number one single. Remembering the 1966 controversy over Lennon's remark about the Beatles' popularity, some radio stations banned the song while others simply blipped out the "Christ" part.

-o0o-
once again, there is no beatles song that starts with the letter "z".

this song was one of the first beatles songs i learned to play on the guitar. it was my 'finale' song when (unbeknownst to my parents) i had that brief gig at a folk house in the early 1970's. i only knew how to play 15 songs completely and they were my nightly repertoire and i always sang this song last, because the beat is so fast i can just slur the words. most of the people weren't listening anyway as they were busy drinking and flirting with the waitresses. hahahaha! i still know the lyrics and the chords by heart but i have not played the guitar for more than 20 years and i doubt my short, stubby fingers can still strum.

i pulled out the beatles books that i have acquired over the years since i came to toronto. some of my books are still in storage and these are fairly recently acquired. sometimes i wonder if i am the only one reading these books. i also have a few books on john lennon.
wow -- great story about your "gigs" -- you have had quite an amazing life!! And I have learned so much about the Beatles! You are a walking Beatles encyclopedia ! Very cool! Love the picture!!
September 27th, 2011  
Amazing story and collection there, summerfield. Did you ever get to see one of their concerts or meet them?? Don't recall if you ever said. You're a real fan alright!
September 27th, 2011  
@cscecil - walking beatles encyclopedia? hahaha! hardly, CS. i was laughing at myself tonight: i have all these books and my information mostly came from wikipedia. fancy that! thanks, CS.

@karenann - no, i never saw them in person or their concerts. i was still young, about 11 or 12 when they came to manila. but i watched them on tv when they appeared at a noontime show. i'm not a die-hard fan, just a regular fan. but if i was already here in the late 70's, i would've stalked john lennon until yoko has me killed. hahahaha. joke! thanks, karenann.
September 27th, 2011  
That is quite the collection
September 27th, 2011  
Nice collection of books. The Beatles were my favorite group when I was growing up.
September 27th, 2011  
great collection and cool pic! with your info and interest in the beatles, you could write a book of your own with interesting beatlle trivia
September 27th, 2011  
@bkbinthecityn - thanks so much.

@pamfromcalgary - me, too! thanks so much, pam.

@sunnygreenwood - thanks so much, anne. but i figure it's quite difficult to write about famous people.
September 27th, 2011  
Thats quite a collection and what a interesting and fun series this has been
September 27th, 2011  
Nice set up- you are definitely the Theme Queen. You do it well.
September 27th, 2011  
i always enjoyed their music very much but failed to follow them. i knew what i liked but not what they were up to. fantastic info.
September 27th, 2011  
That's only part of your collection? Wow. I guess you're a fan then? ;P Great series! You should pull out the guitar and give er a go! You never know....
September 27th, 2011  
@steeler - thanks, howard.

@jannkc - hahaha! theme queen. that's funny. thanks, jann.

@catsmeowb - thanks, camille. i try.

@slang - well, there's probably five more somewhere :-) i've been hunting music stores for a good guitar sans any luck, but maybe i'll get it from the old country when i go visit in november. thanks, sean.
September 28th, 2011  
wow! you are the ultimate Beatles fan girl with this collection! =)
September 28th, 2011  
Sue
That is a very nice collection of books. keep them well.
September 28th, 2011  
@altadc - uhm, not quite the ultimate. i don't have all their albums. i think when i retire, i will hunt down those british and american albums that i haven't got a CD of yet. maybe go to port fairy in australia.

@roth - taking very good care of my books, sue. i learned from grade one not to put dog ears on a book nor use saliva to turn the pages. but sometimes i wonder who's going to take care of them when i kick the bucket!
September 28th, 2011  
wow nice collection of beatles books there! no wonder you are knowledgeable! great shot
September 28th, 2011  
@danig - only with things i'm interested in. thanks, DG!
September 28th, 2011  
great collection of books in the image to go with the song title; John (and Yoko) fascinated me and I guess I have read quite a lot about him...yet I never saw him play live, whereas I have seen Paul play three times (twice in 70s, once in 80s)...and I am very sad that I never got to see my favourite Beatle George play :-/ but the Beatles were the soundtrack to my childhood in many ways...I once had an orange plastic ukulele with little round portrait photos of each of 'the fab four" embedded into the front of it. I think I was about 8 year old!
October 9th, 2011  
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